FREEZE FRAMES

A weekly update of film releases

July 30, 1993

By David Sterritt

* FREE WILLY - A troubled boy named Jesse make friends with a killer whale named Willy, who lives in a glorified fish tank at an aquatic park, and saves the creature when greedy humans puts its life in danger. The movie is refreshingly wholesome and contains some lovely shots of Willy and landlubbers who care for him. But the screenplay does only a superficial job of sketching the special relationship between Jesse and Willy, who each feel trapped in a world that isn't quite right; and the theme of corpora te interests putting profit before principle has been more intelligently explored in a long list of movies. The climax will bring tears to your eyes, but only because filmmakers have calculated its effect down to the millisecond. Simon Wincer directed the picture, which was written by Keith Walker ad Corey Blechman. The winsome cinematography is by Robbie Greenberg. (Rated PG) * FROM HOLLYWOOD TO HANOI - The filmmaker Tiana Thi Thanh Nga, who usually calls herself just Tiana, has had a successful career in the entertainment world, as a pop singer and an action star in kung-fu movies. Turning to a more serious project, she recently returned to her native Vietnam for the first time since her childhood in the mid-1960s and chronicled her responses to the journey; she also filmed hard-to-get interviews with a great number of prominent figures who played key military and political rol es during the Vietnam War. Although it doesn't contain a great deal of memorable material, the movie has charm and energy to spare, and its spunky respect for human dignity should help to spread much-needed understanding between American and Vietnamese people. Tiana wrote, produced, and directed the picture. Michael Doods, Bruce Dorfman, and Jamie Maxtone-Graham did the cinematography. (Not rated)

Next up

Here are more stories that look at the news with empathy, insight, and hope.